$300 gaming monitor suggestions for an older fan of CRTs

I was a CRT hold out for a while. I had a Viewsonic pf790 which was a 19" aperture grill crt. I ordered several monitors throughout this decade including a 19" Dell (1905 I think), a 19" planar, the HP 2065 (S-IPS) and the Dell 2209wa. They all went back except the 2209wa.

I noticed clearly obvious ghosting with all of the ones that went back. I do not notice this on the 2209 at all. Even motion blur is not that obvious. The only con that I can attach to this monitor is the black levels are not awesome in a very dark room. But not terrible either. Black levels are important to me as I play many of the same darker games. With a little light in the room the blacks are solid.

My 2209 does not have tinting issues that I can see. The AG coating does not bother me either.

This monitor is similar to the Dell 2311, so that gets my vote.
 
I have compared my GDM-F520 side by side with many LCD and my 2209WA comes the closest in terms of color and picture quality. As mentioned above the only issue with 2209WA is black level in a dark room and white glow if you look close enough.

I vote for the 2209WA, because I have not seen the 2311 and 16:9 is going to be difficult for someone comming from a CRT.

You can still find them for about $300

Dave
 
SH1 said:
He's relisted: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220715929775
Click to expand...

Ouch. That's really tempting. Will keep an eye on that. Thanks for the update.

Sure enough, my Acer G245H showed up yesterday from Amazon. Only had time to get it out, remove the plastic, and attach the base. Last night was my night to put our son to bed, and he had a rough time, so I didnt get it hooked up to the PC. Hopefully I can get to the Acer first thing tonight.
 
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
NCX said:
IThe PX2370 is not a good monitor, contrast is below average @120cdm/2 luminance (industry standard) and the HDMI image quality is truly awful, plus it costs way to much. Plus the blacks really tinge blue. Go look at in store and you will see this.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree with this. I was in a larger Best Buy yesterday and saw the Sammy PX2370 for the first time, hooked up to a separate PC and was playing around with it for a bit.

Compared with every other monitor in the store, the PX 2370 was the best...hands down, in my opinion. I thought the colors were accurate and crisp (my BenQ V2400W is calibrated so I know what colors are supposed to look like), LED lighting appeared to be very uniform, viewing angles were good, and the picture was NOT washed out like the LG LED monitors nearby.

Amazon is selling it for ~ $278 shipped, last I checked. Was thinking of picking one up for my kids. They are still using an ancient 19" PVA Sammy.

Will also research the Acer G245 mentioned in this thread, though I am not a fan of glossy screens.
 
Why get a PX2370 for nearly $300 when you can get a P2770FH for $319? Or if that is too big or expensive a Dell U2311H for 280 or less.
 
Last edited:
brencat said:
I have to disagree with this. I was in a larger Best Buy yesterday and saw the Sammy PX2370 for the first time, hooked up to a separate PC and was playing around with it for a bit.

Compared with every other monitor in the store, the PX 2370 was the best...hands down, in my opinion. I thought the colors were accurate and crisp (my BenQ V2400W is calibrated so I know what colors are supposed to look like), LED lighting appeared to be very uniform, viewing angles were good, and the picture was NOT washed out like the LG LED monitors nearby.

Amazon is selling it for ~ $278 shipped, last I checked. Was thinking of picking one up for my kids. They are still using an ancient 19" PVA Sammy.

Will also research the Acer G245 mentioned in this thread, though I am not a fan of glossy screens.
Click to expand...

I was at a BB this week. I wanted to compare my LG E2350V with the other monitors on display. I found it completely ignorant of BB to display TN monitors on tiered shelves. The viewing angles are horrible for the monitors on the higher shelves. I could see the novice buyer making a bad decision because of their setup.

I took it upon myself to disconnect all the monitors I wanted to compare, and re-connect them on the 1st shelf (eye level). It made a world of difference and I was able to tweak the settings to my liking.

I came to the complete opposite conclusion and was quite disappointed with the PX2370.
 
Last edited:
lodingi said:
I took it upon myself to disconnect all the monitors I wanted to compare, and re-connect them on the 1st shelf (eye level). It made a world of difference and I was able to play tp tweak the settings to my liking.

I came to the complete opposite conclusion and was quite disappointed with the PX2370.
Click to expand...

That's really interesting. Like I said, the one I played with was hooked up to a separate computer system in another location away from the shelf displays. In any case, perhaps there is some manufacturing inconsistency in these given all the varied opinions.

I'm not needing to buy anything at the moment -- going to take my time and get my kids a good one. Frankly, I wish there were more 16:10 aspect monitors around because I prefer 19 x 12 native for gaming and spreadsheet work. I haven't been in the market for 2 years since I got my BenQ. Can't believe how manufacturers have totally chizzled on their product offerings by going almost exclusively 16:9 now... even BenQ doesn't make a 16:10 product anymore, fvck me.
 
I have the VH236H. I gotta say, for gaming on the cheap, it's about as good as it gets. Super-low response time (which means pretty much zero ghosting), good contrast, and it even has relatively decent speakers built-in (they are still tinny and crappy, but they're awesome considering they're strapped to a monitor.) Even though it's a TN monitor, the viewing angles are pretty good.

My full review here.
 
All sorts of new stuff around here...

A few nights back I finally got to hook up my Acer G245H. Moved the old CRT out of the way, tossed the VGA cable out and grabbed a DVI, and powered this thing on. Windows 7 seemed to work just fine with this monitor in a plug n play way, but I installed and updated the Acer eDisplay Management software anyway.

With all stock settings, this monitor REALLY pops with Windows. Bright, crisp, looks good. Just as I was starting to play with the picture settings, my wife came down to get me. Seems she was going into labor a few days early. So off we went to the hospital. Four hours later we had a healthy baby girl. :)

We're home from the hospital and everyone is doing fine, but I haven't had much time to tinker with the Acer. Will try to get NCX's recommended settings dialed in pretty soon.
 
Update on the Acer and a question for NCX-

I have his settings dialed in-

Brightness 15
Contrast 88
Color, user
red 97
green 85
blue 80
wide mode- aspect
DDC/CI off
ACM off

Set those via the front panel controls. Is there anything else I need to check to make sure the screen looks its best?

The nvidia control panel sees the Acer G245H. Set to 60Hz refresh, 32 bit color. Global 3D settings are pretty much stock, except Vertical Sync is forced off and Triple Buffering is on.

Windows control panel / display / screen resolution shows Acer, but Device Manager / monitors shows "generic PnP monitor." Is that normal?
 
JR-Orion said:
Global 3D settings are pretty much stock, except Vertical Sync is forced off and Triple Buffering is on.

Windows control panel / display / screen resolution shows Acer, but Device Manager / monitors shows "generic PnP monitor." Is that normal?
Click to expand...

Just wondering why you changed the global settings to force vsync off, as opposed to leaving it set to "application controlled" ? There are likely games that you'll want the option to turn it on in case you see tearing while playing. Just gives you greater flexibility that way.
 
Good thread.. I'm in the same boat. Used to game on a CRT.. I like dark FPS games :D. Currently using a 24" matte IPS (iMac). Bright scenes look decent, but the AG coating is annoying and the poor black level/contrast suck the life out of dark scenes. I wouldn't buy another matte IPS screen.

Looking at the Acer G245H or Benq EW2420, but I haven't seen these in person yet.

As an aside, my favourite test for dark gaming is in Half-Life 2 Episode 1, in the underground cave section shortly after the start. I think the screen goes down to nearly pitch black when your flashlight is off, and shining the flashlight around looks amazing. I guess I was spoiled by playing it on a CRT :D

JR - I'm excited to hear how you like the G245H vs your CRT's.
 
brencat said:
Just wondering why you changed the global settings to force vsync off, as opposed to leaving it set to "application controlled" ? There are likely games that you'll want the option to turn it on in case you see tearing while playing. Just gives you greater flexibility that way.
Click to expand...

I read somewhere that having vsync on could cause various graphic issues... not sure if that's true or not. Either way it's not something I'm emotional about. Guess I could flip it back to application controlled and play around with it.
 
A far as gaming goes, I've only been playing Torchlight lately, but I've been playing plenty of it, that's for sure. Looks quite good to my eye. Blacks look nice and black. I am not noticing any input lag, streaking, or ghosting. In fact, I am not missing my CRT at all.

The size difference between 1152x864 on a 17" vs 1920x1080 on a 24" is basically blowing my mind. :)

I love the way regular windows / internet stuff looks. Everything is co crisp, clear, and vivid.

I'm a very happy customer so far.
 
Picture didn't turn out that well, but here's the Acer in its new home-

100_0586.jpg


Yes, I have the world's ugliest mouse pad. But the gel wrist rest is super comfortable.
 
The new baby sleeps a lot, so I've actually been able to get some game time in. The new monitor looks so good that I want to go back and see some of my favorite older games in 1080. So I fired up Half Life 2 and Bioshock 1. Both look very nice on the Acer. Think I've put in enough game time now to say that input lag, streaking, and ghosting are non-issues on the G245H.

Bioshock in particular can be a rather dark game, and it has a little in-game adjustment screen. "Set image so that the gray bar is barely visible against the black background behind it." I've got that dialed in just right, and the blacks do look nice and black.
 
Hmm, just noticed the G245H is out of stock / deactivated at New Egg. :(

Amazon still had them though.
 
It's back in stock, for $219.99.

I'm in the same boat, I'll be moving to an LCD from CRT in a month or so. Putting together a 2600K system, will go either with a 6950 or a GTX570 (haven't decided yet). I am in love with the 19" 16:10 monitor I have at work, so I really want to go 16:10. Considering I am not a fan of the 19" 16:9 monitors that are here at the office, I'm guessing that I would feel the same way about a 24" version. I'm looking at getting the Asus VW266H, even though it's nearly $70 more (not available at the egg, $287 from Amazon).

I'm sure the 16:10 vs. 16:9 argument has been beaten to death, and I am very much in the 16:10 camp. I'm just wondering if there is counter evidence that will make me decide that the G245H is the better purchase (aside from the cost -- that's pretty obvious since it's $70).
 
Yeah... that thread just gave me a headache. There was one good point, and that was fitting a 1920x1080 image within a 1920x1200 monitor.

I'm back at square one. Blah.
 
Well, it's been two and a half months since the G245H showed up. Still very happy with it. Best $230 I've ever spent on PC stuff. I can't believe how nice games look on this monitor.

I'm still playing Torchlight, but I fired up Crysis just to confirm this monitor's performance... the jungles and islands looked incredible.
 
Also being a CRT diehard, I reluctantly picked up an Acer H233H a couple months back. It replaced my old Sony FW900 which I really loved. After a little adjustment, I can now say that I am very satisfied with the LCD. Sure, blacks are not as nice but sharpness and perfect geometry kinda make up for it-at least with games. I still prefer my CRT television for films and what not, but for gaming the Acer is quite adequate. Input lag is extremely low-low enough that I can't tell that there is any.

Not to mention it doesn't weigh 90 lbs. :)

On top of all that, The main issue I hadwith the Sony is the fact that when it broke, there was basically no way to fix it and nearly impossible to find another without spending a mint on eBay. I'm happy with the compromise and I am a picky person when it comes to this sort of thing.
 
I still love my G245H. Every time I fire up a new game on this monitor, I am super impressed.

Still, it's been a while since I bought the Acer. So NCX, what would be your current recommendation for a gaming monitor in the $200 - $300 range?

I'm keeping my G245, but have a friend or two who might be in the marke for a new monitor.
 
JR-Orion said:
I still love my G245H. Every time I fire up a new game on this monitor, I am super impressed.

Still, it's been a while since I bought the Acer. So NCX, what would be your current recommendation for a gaming monitor in the $200 - $300 range?

I'm keeping my G245, but have a friend or two who might be in the marke for a new monitor.
Click to expand...

I'm in the market for a new monitor, maybe even a 120hz display, right now myself, but can't even begin to figure out which one to get. The fancy new 120hz Samsungs are out of the question due to lack of VESA mounts and because the pricing is friggin ridiculous. Size, really anything around 24 or up to 27 is good, but I can't for the life of me figure out which one is a better option.

Should be clear, I have zero interest in 3D. Only reason I'm considering 120hz is for gaming.
 
JR-Orion said:
I still love my G245H. Every time I fire up a new game on this monitor, I am super impressed.

Still, it's been a while since I bought the Acer. So NCX, what would be your current recommendation for a gaming monitor in the $200 - $300 range?

I'm keeping my G245, but have a friend or two who might be in the marke for a new monitor.
Click to expand...

HP 2509B Review.....200$ from best buy. Pretty much the same thing as the Acer, but an inch bigger and no 72hz support. 330-350$ gets you an Asus VG236H Review. I just purchased one of these, pretty much the same thing as the Acer (best TN I have tested) but with 120hz.
 
I'm running a Sony FW900 and Im thinking about buying another one to replace this one when it eventually dies. I like it that much.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top